KBEEA
March 9, 2005
Meeting Notes
Attendees:
Beth Trowbridge, Bree Murphy, Heather Beggs, Ginger Strong, Steve Hackett, Catie Bursch, Gale Parsons, Melonie Shipman, Lindsey
Hallet, Diane Borgman, Carmen Field, Carol Swartz, Rick Foster
New Programs
Beth (CACS): - Wynn Nature Center is open Sundays through
April 3 (not Easter)
- Astronomy – next Wednesday with Toby Tyler 6:30 –
7:30 pm
- Winter Ecology school program – piloted next week
Thursday) with Fireweed Academy > snowshoes needed
- Beth is revising AK Oil Spill Curriculum (with PWSRCAC) >
needs reviewers to look at before the end of April (Steve & Diane
offered to review)
Heather (Pratt): - summer internships > trying for TX (?) partners
to help with
McNeil
- summer volcano camp
Bree (CACS): - dock studies class as pre-field
station visit activity > to
coordinate with Pratt’s history program on dock
– Gale & Bree to
discuss
Carmen: KBRR can provide SERC invasive work spp. lists
Steve: please incorporate environmental
conservation messages
Rick: engineers (?) interested in monitoring
project
- new Crabs Onboard ½-day oceanography program
> 4 hrs on
Rainbow
Connection; 2nd year working with KBRR on plankton
Steve(IDEA): - likes new teacher
planning website
- has set up homeschool science fair >
very popular; usually in
March, but this year’s next week in Kenai (sometimes
in Homer
or
Seward, too)
- leads Roadside Geology during Earth Sciences Week > 2nd week
of May this year
(Turnagain Pass to Seward to Homer)
Carmen: offered assistance with coastal erosion/sediment
transport info
Ginger (Rainbow Tours): - humpback whale fluke ID website done for Lower Cook
Inlet / Barren Islands whales > 338 individuals identified so
far; goal = internship (seeking support) for doing onboard
research & education to connect to Hawaii whales
- will be doing Barren Island only trips this year (new), not
including stop in Seldovia > about 10 times during summer,
depending on tides; other days going to Seldovia; down
the
road perhaps landing on Barrens with permit
Gale (Pratt): - April
15 program by Jenny Ross on polar bears from 7 – 9 pm +
2-day wildlife photography workshop/seminar on April 16-17
>
cost: $195
- 2-day remote camera training for teachers
(FOCUS workshop) in
summer (June 13-17, 2005)
discussion
about totes for education kits
Beth: highly recommended Refuge
kit, especially for plane travel
- WHIZ Kids ongoing this winter
- now has middle school intern working with
Lindsey during last
hour of school
- looking for high school after-school intern
(computer savvy)
- SAP program still being planned for summer
- no archeology field trip this summer, but possibly week camping
at Augustine for volcano camp
Melonie (AMNWR): - in Unalaska 2 – 3 times / year for ~ 1 week at a time > ideas for
there include teacher workshop & sharing oil spill
info
- next week is Bering Sea workshop (Mon – Thu)
- Selengdang Ayu: Refuge back out in April/May to do clean-
up; creating website for teachers to access curriculum-related
info on this new spill
- Coastwalk: working this fall with CACS to coordinate
(related
to Marine Debris program)
- special homeschool shorebird viewing program this spring
- Saturday kids (11 am) & adult (3 pm) movies > needs ideas for
kids movies
- Earth Day coming up
Diane (KBLC): - 2 and ½ day programs continuing
this spring, starting April 27
- offering dock walk for students on Tues and Thurs
(any time of
day; per request) & tourists, looking at boats & commercial
fishing aspect + Gull Island tour for birds (3 hrs)
Bree: offered to
help coordinate dock tours of CACS, Pratt &
KBLC
- Diane recommends other KBEEA-member programs to her
programs’ participants
Diane: recommended
that ed coordinators meet in fall to compare
programming & visititation of spring EE groups to learn
about organizations
Carol (KPC-KBC): - hosting Stream Team Water Quality Monitoring in April for
KBEEA
- new science lab opened ~ 10 days ago
- fall program development: 1) 3-credit oceanography
class team-
taught by Scott Pegau & Judy Hamilton and 2) weekend
mycology class with Gary Larsen from UAF
Carmen (KBRR): - I&O Homeschool
Day coming up on April 13
- Discovery Labs will be offered 3 times per week
this summer
- ed staff working on invertebrate inventory for
southern coast of
AK > currently focusing on spp. important to humans
- CTP Floodplain workshop coming up in Seward
March 31 &
April 1
KBEEA
Outreach Committee Report
Carmen: -
Melonie working with Carla Stanley on KBEEA banner > hope to
finish by mid-April
- rack card hopefully finished by mid-April, too
COLLABORATIONS
Partners in Education
Beth: -
started last summer when coordinating on cooperative calendar
- made up of 4 organizations: Pratt, CACS, Refuge, Reserve
- 1st event was February’s Winter Carnival
event at Pratt; 2nd event
will be March 24 PlanktonFest at I&O
Kayak Festival
Diane:
- Kids’ Day at Kayak Festival on May 26
- keynote speakers and puppet show on May 28 and 29
- CACS activities on May 28
- movies on May 27
Microscopic Ocean Art & Nature – exhibit opens April 8 and runs through June
6, 2005
- poster text due to Gale from KBRR
- Coffee Table scheduled
Teacher
Trainings – group looked over list of current trainings scheduled (handout)
Day of Science - committee: Gale, Lindsey,
Melonie, Bree, Steve, and Diane
- 1st Day of Science will be week of Sept.
26 in Seldovia
- all agreed on 1st planning meeting to be held on April 14 at 9 am in I&O classroom
Homer Eco-tourism Marketing group
Heather:
- passed around 2 handouts
- discussed “over marketing” of Homer (fishing
capital, arts, eco-
tourism)
- next membership/annual meeting will be April 28
Spring Coastal Clean-up
Steve:
- will 2 times / year work?
- Coastwalk packet could be given to Refuge Marine Debris
program’s students for stewardship activity (CACS staff: CACS
could provide packets)
- could add to homeschool programming at I&O, make part of
SeaWeek activities (if classes visit local beaches)
- could be incentive for next year’s booking (ie. best dates/low
tides reserved for participants)
Tidepool Guides
Bree: -
Sunday, April 10 is AK Coastal Ecology program training with
CACS staff > offered for all CACS volunteers but KBEEA members
are
invited to join training (let Bree know by March 31 if you
intend to come)
Catie:
- she’s making buttons with KBEEA logo for tidepool guides
Diane: Have there been noticeable impacts to beaches? Group
discussion came to conclusion that not much documented.
KBay Science Conference
Ideas: have a mini-conference
with high school students and teacher training (such as for ShoreZone
Mapping)
Coastweeks
- Group decided on “Coastal Changes”
as this year’s theme. Dates will be Sep. 24 – Oct. 8, beginning with
National Estuaries Day and wrapping up with the Science Conference.
- Ideas for events to include: group dock tour, Discovery Lab,
report on Unalaska oil spill
- Beth will be master calendar creator
Comments
Steve:
homeschool needs and evaluation are important
Lindsey:
will be gone after April 20
